Top 10 Crazy Political Figures in Movies

In this comic sci-fi flick, James Dale is the fictional president of the U.S. during a Martian invasion! During Dale’s first encounter with the Martians in Nevada, they quickly zap a peace dove and attack their greeters. The President assumes the Martians thought the dove was a war symbol, so to smooth things over, he has them speak before Congress, where they once again slaughter attendees. Threat after threat, Dale refuses to retaliate and is ultimately killed because of his ineffectiveness. While he was willing to give the aliens the benefit of the doubt, Dale was also undoubtedly crazy and because of him, Earth was nearly invaded.

This fictional version of Emperor Commodus embodies all of the corrupt stereotypes about ancient Roman imperial succession that you could imagine! Commodus’ father Marcus Aurelius wanted to return Rome to a republic upon his death and Commodus wasn’t having any of it! So what did he do? Commodus killed his ailing father to seize the throne. As emperor, Commodus was not an exceptional statesman, was a little too infatuated with his sister, and ultimately meets his end while fighting Maximus in gladiatorial combat. He may have been a violent, jerk of a leader but it was his very extreme behavior that also made him memorable.

Jay Bulworth is a California senator seeking re-election and who is also facing a popular rival. An old-school leftist, Bulworth tries to rebrand himself as a conservative, accept corporate backing, and keep a broken marriage stitched together on camera. This political sellout concocts his own death, takes out a massive life insurance policy to the benefit of his daughter, and hires a hitman to kill himself. Soon, Bulworth begins to stop caring about it all and reverts to his core beliefs and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Despite being a trainwreck of a politician, Bulworth is also bizarrely likable.

In this political comedy, Democratic congressman Cam Brady hopes to get his fifth term representing the fictional 14th District of North Carolina, since he is currently unopposed. But he immediately runs into trouble after he accidentally leaves a racy voicemail on the wrong person’s answering machine. As a result, two sinister businessmen known as the Motch Brothers – characters meant to poke fun at the real-life Koch brothers – decide to back the good-hearted Marty Huggins on the Republican ticket. Quickly finding themselves going tit-for-tat, Brady and Huggins’ campaigns epically degenerate into a race to the bottom and it’s one hell of a funny (and crazy) ride!

This political comedy’s representation of the supreme leader of North Korea is one of the most brutal satires of a living head of state. In the film, Kim Jong-un agrees to allow talk show host Dave Skylark, along with producer Aaron Rapoport, to come to North Korea, to conduct Kim’s first international interview - completely oblivious to their planned assassination attempt. Kim Jong-un is depicted as an alienated outcast that adores Katy Perry, secretly loves margaritas, and has some serious daddy issues. As evil as Kim is depicted to be, it’s still hard not to feel bad for him.

In the first “Hot Shots!,” Tug Benson was a Rear admiral, but he’s since become the President of the United States! In “Part Deux,” this fictional leader presides over America during a time of increased conflict with Saddam Hussein. President Benson sends a Special Forces team to save the American soldiers that were detained during Operation Desert Storm and assassinate the Iraqi President. After the rescue attempt is thwarted, Benson goes to Iraq himself and personally duels with Saddam! This zany president isn’t afraid to put himself in harm’s way and looks wonderfully ridiculous every step of the journey.

In this action comedy, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s take on Kim Jong-il is a hilarious satire that is only made more humorous by the fact that he is represented by a puppet! Shown as a purveyor of weapons of mass destruction to the world’s terrorists, Kim hosts a fake peace ceremony to distract the world’s superpowers, during which he attempts to set off bombs around the world. The “South Park” creators present Kim as a bumbling, violent dictator that is equally evil, lonely, and awkwardly hilarious.

In this satirical sci-fi comedy, U.S. Army librarian Corporal Joe Bauers wakes up from a time suspension chamber 500 years into the future. What he finds is an America ruled by President Camacho, who is idiotic, loud, demanding, and unrealistic - as is the rest of America. Camacho gives Joe, who is now the smartest man in the world, a week to solve the nation’s plethora of problems, from the faltering economy to food shortages, and even modern dust bowls. Future President Camacho is the epitome of American stereotypes, and yet his own idiocracy is somehow hilariously endearing.

In the midst of World War II, Charlie Chaplin didn’t hold back from brutally satirizing Adolf Hitler in this historically iconic film. No fan of fascism, Chaplin played eagerly played Adenoid Hynkel, the Dictator of the fictional country Tomainia. Hynkel is violent and ruthlessly anti-Semitic and his own downfall is solely due to a case of mistaken identity. Chaplin’s famous mustache looked incredibly similar to Hitler’s to begin with and he was beyond a visual fit for parodying Hitler.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions:
- Fielding Mellish
“Bananas” (1971)
- President of the United States
“Canadian Bacon” (1995)
- Saddam Hussein
“South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” (1999)

In this comedy, Haffaz Aladeen, played by Sacha Baron Cohen of “Borat” fame, is the royal dictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya. Aladeen is a sexist, anti-Semitic tyrant that is ousted and replaced with an impostor. Struggling to return to power and adapt to social norms in New York City, he eventually takes his throne back and turns Wadiya into a rigged democracy to appease Western powers. Cohen based his character heavily on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and it’s rumored the film is inspired by Saddam Hussein’s novel“Zabibah and the King” – no wonder the guy’s crazy.

Do you agree with our list? Who are your favorite crazy political figures in movies? For more excellent Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.